


Masks, Bandages, and Feels

by NursingTie



Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, But mostly fluff, Digital Art, Don't binge two things at once or this happens, Eventual Relationships, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sonic is a vessel bc yes, This was a silly idea
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2020-07-06
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:53:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25117207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NursingTie/pseuds/NursingTie
Summary: I'm not the best at writing, this is for self indulgent reasons.(edits of images will be done)
Relationships: Knuckles the Echidna & Miles "Tails" Prower, Knuckles the Echidna & Sonic the Hedgehog, Knuckles the Echidna/Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower & Sonic the Hedgehog
Comments: 1
Kudos: 20





	Masks, Bandages, and Feels

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not the best at writing, this is for self indulgent reasons.  
> (edits of images will be done)

The brightness was the least he expected to see when he pushed up the large, old gate. Sotol, or the name he chose, had travelled long and far from the dead kingdom. "Hallownest" was the name he often read on the various signs and posts, claiming it as an 'undying' kingdom. Clearly that was a lie. From all the corpses of beings like him, to overgrown vines and plants, it was clear that it's been a while since anyone lived there. Well, there were _some_ people, but hardly any to consider it a kingdom in his opinion. At least those people helped him find the kingdom edge. 

And there he was. Heavy gusts of wind made it hard, but Sotol was able to prevail. Before him a little bit ago was a large, round door. It was taller than him, which was unsurprising, considering how short he was compared to other beings down here. 

A few kicks there, a few punches here, and a large amount of pushing led to him breaking down the door. Now he was faced with something different than he'd seen in his travels. Tall, odd structures sprung from the ground, bare until the top, which was covered in a head of leaves. The floor had no familiar stone paths, just...green leaves. He took a few small, careful steps, shielding his face with a Chitin arm. He couldn't look up at the brightness's source, it hurt to do so. 

He continued on his tread, until Sotol was underneath one of the structures. It felt colder, the area around the pole of dark brown dark and shaded. Was this due to the leaves? He hardly knew. However, all that matters was he didn't have to deal with the horrible light above. 

Sotal slumps into the ground, bringing his hand to rub between his eyes, the smooth surface of his pale face gliding along his segmented fingers. Now that he had a moment to relax, he might as well look at where he came from. The vessel turns around, eyeing the structure in front of him.

From a glance, it simply looks like a bunch of rocks and moss. However, upon closer inspection one could see the various carvings along one of the stones, standing tall and proud amongst the others surrounding it. Faintly, a large, four pronged symbol was in the center. Sotol had read in various abandoned journals that this was called "King's Brand." Surprisingly it was easy to find out where and how to get this mark, from the carcass of a massive bug near the end of the land. Now branded, Sotol could have certain, ancient passages open up, just with this little mark! 

Funny, he didn't remember the wall closing behind him when he left. There was no sound to signal it. Guess that meant no return to the kingdom, not that he wanted to anyway..

Turning around, Sotol began to carefully tread onward, looking around at his surroundings with tension. This was new land, none he knew. He wanted to make sure that he wouldn't get ambushed by unknown creatures, or-

Rustling made his mind stop immediately. His form stiffens up almost instantly, dropping his bag of goods and drawing his cracked, but useful nail, a weapon commonly used down underground. The rustling increased, and Sotol began to raise his weapon. What happened next was unsuspected. 

Something tall, and bright red came out, it's body coated in bandages and dirt. Short claws stuck out of its fists, but certainly intimidating. Looking up, Sotol noticed that the being didn't even notice him, not looking in his direction. Instead it turns to the side, walking down to more bushes. Red tendrils on its head bounced as it made melodic hums, no pattern or rhythm to them. 

Sotol grew more interested in this specimen. It didn't seem too harmful, but he still felt the need to be careful when near it. He followed it along, still in a battle ready stance. The red being would stop by a new bush, one covered in small orbs, which he began to take, holding them with one hand. 

For once it began to talk, it's voice odd, very, outgoing? Easy to tell that it was male with his voice. 

"Man, these berries look perfect this year! Hopefully they taste good too…"

Berries? Were those the small things? What an odd name. He took a small step closer, before…

_Crunch._

Both seemed to stiffen up, the red being turning around to see Sotol, wide eyed and weapon in hand. 

"..Uhm. Hey?" The red thing spoke, carefully dropping the berries down and beginning to stand up, towering over the other. This made Sotol snap out of it, shaking his head and holding his weapon out to the other, who suddenly backed up, drawing his hands up. 

"Woah, hey! Calm down, I won't hurt ya, see?" He shakes his hands gently, a look of faint worry on his face. Sotal held his weapon still, but lowered it ever so slightly. This was ...new. Almost every time a being would show up, it would charge at him, or run away. None really stood their ground at the vessel. 

"Not gonna say anything?, Wait…" The red one squinted, before drawing closer. 

"You don't have a mouth? Huh, that's-" he would become silent when Sotol drew his weapon up again, nearly slashing into the being's face. This made the red being fall back, wide eyed. "Ah! I just said I won't hurt you!" He brought his hands up, drawing them to his face. All went silent, still for a few seconds.

The red being would pause, before retracting his arms, seeing that the other had began to walk away. "Wh...hey! What was that all about?" He got up, before walking up behind the small one. Sotol turns around again, this time looking more confused, before turning back and dashing away to where he left his bags. Or he would, had not a sudden tug at his cloak, and he was suddenly off the ground, held by the red being. He thrashed around, flailing his nail to no avail. The red being brought a hand to his mask, and he shut his eyes. This was it….

No punches, hits, or anything violent was given, though. The taller simply brought a hand to touch his mask. 

"Are you a machine? You definitely aren't mobian." The taller asked, looking down at the now staring Sotol. He suddenly paused, before carefully putting him down, "Sorry. I should have asked before doing that.."

Sotol sat down onto the ground, looking up at the other. He didn't run whatsoever, simply sat down on the leafy floor. He then got up, still looking before turning around and walking to where his bag was, pausing every so often and turning back, staring. The red being got the idea, following along, a surprised look on his face. "You want me to follow you? Why?" As expected, silence was his answer.

The two would suddenly stop, Sotol looking wide eyes at the patch of floor that once had his bags, now empty. He walked over, looking up, then down, then around. "Oh no, what's up bud?" The red being looked worried himself now, seeing this vessel near panic. Sotal looked up, wide eyed as he saw some odd thing drag his bag off, a white, red, and grey crab. 

"Oh, badniks!" The red one spoke up, before following it, Sotol rushing behind. That bag held valuable items of his like currency, weapon tools, cloak items, and others.

The two would follow the surprisingly fast mech, until it would reach a corner, turning around and staring at the two figures above it. Quick work was made of it, and Sotol's bag was recovered unscathed, albeit now dirt covered. The red being looked at Sotol. "Man, wonder why one of Eggman's robots is out here? Eh, probably nothing important.."

He then paused, looking at Sotol. "Do you need any other help here? Probably aren't from here, right?" He asked, and Sotol nods, heaving his bag up. Man was it heavy…

"Need help with that? Where are you going anyway?" A shrug, the vessel unsure himself. The red being hums in thought, before smiling, "Oh! You can stay with me! Only if you wanna…." Sotol would pause before nodding. This creature proved to be rather nice, useful for him. 

The being smiled more, before grabbing up the bag and leading the smaller through the paths of greenery. "By the way, my name's Knuckles!" He, Knuckles, then looked confused. "Well, since you can't talk...I guess I'll call you bud for now until you can! Tails can probably help with that really well."

Sotol didn't reply of course, thinking to himself. He never really well, thought this often until he came here. Most of the time it was only in short bursts, not as often flowing as it was now. Was this because he was in a new land? Perhaps other things will change, but he didn't know now. The two would walk off through the woods, their footsteps hushed by the sounds of blowing wind, and the small chirps of birds as they ventured further into the undergrowth.


End file.
